Famed Colorado concert promoter Barry Fey long believed he'd be buried in the Morrison Cemetery, near his beloved Red Rocks Amphitheatre. But lost paperwork and a ruling by the historic cemetery's management group makes it unlikely that his final wishes will be fulfilled.

"I think it's a shame they can't make room for my father," said one of his sons, Geoffry. "I want to bury my dad there."

Geoffry Fey said his father had an agreement with a past Morrison mayor allowing him to be buried in the cemetery, even though plots are provided only to residents of the Jefferson County town.

But the paperwork from the deal — which stipulated that Fey's family pay $200 annually in exchange for a grave marked with a flat stone and surrounded by a chain-link fence — was lost.

Denver public-relations veteran and family friend Andrew Hudson said he began working this week with Morrison's current mayor, Earl Auckland, to make Fey an honorary citizen posthumously.

"Morrison and its citizens have benefited so much from Barry's work in putting Red Rocks on the map," Hudson wrote on his Facebook page Thursday. "It would have been so appropriate for his grave to have soaked up the tasty tunes floating from the Rocks."

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The Morrison Cemetery Association, however, ruled Wednesday night that even as an honorary citizen, Fey could not be buried in the cemetery.

Morrison Town Administrator and Clerk Kara Zabilansky
said she and Auckland worked on the honorary citizenship until they realized the Morrison Cemetery Association's bylaws would still bar Fey's burial in the cemetery, which is just east of Red Rocks Park.

Photos: Concert promoter Barry Fey dies

"Only those persons who reside within Morrison town boundaries ... and are eligible to vote in town elections shall be eligible to purchase plots in the Morrison Cemetery," the bylaws state.

The Morrison Cemetery Association did not respond for comment.

Hudson estimated there are about 60 available plots in the cemetery.

The cemetery is not within city limits, and the cemetery association is independent of the town's government, Zabilansky said.

Gov. John Hickenlooper's spokesman, Eric Brown, said the office made calls supporting the family's bid to have Fey buried in the cemetery.

If the association does not reverse its decision, Geoffry Fey said his father's body will be cremated and his ashes scattered at Red Rocks Amphitheatre, which would require permission from the venue's owner, the city of Denver.

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